Cameron Diaz Signs On For Miss Hannigan In Annie

Some women are dripping with diamonds, some women are dripping with pearls. Come Christmas 2014, Cameron Diaz will be dripping with "Little Girls." The actor has reportedly signed on to take on the role of the oft-inebriated and negligent orphanage caretaker Miss Hannigan in Will Smith and Jay-Z's upcoming take on the popular stage and feature musical Annie. Diaz's casting news follows word that Sandra Bullock was up for the role, but then backed out.

Deadline reported the news, stating that negotiations for Diaz are done and the Bad Teacher star has officially signed on to play Miss Hannigan in the film. The remake will star Beasts of the Southern Wild's Oscar-nominated star Quvenzhane Wallis in the title role, and the film is slated for a 2014 Christmas release. Jamie Foxx is on board to play the Daddy Warbucks character, the wealthy man whose path will cross with little orphan Annie in the film, which will start production this fall. In this take on the story, Foxx's character's name is Benjamin Stacks. The Wrap described Stacks as a New York City mayoral hopeful, which indicates that they're doing a bit more tinkering to the plot than simply changing names. Deadline's report offers no specifics on whether or not anything's changing for Miss Hannigan's role in the story. Will she still run an orphanage? Or assuming the time period has changed - it seems unclear whether or not this will be a modern-day story or something set in a previous time - perhaps a foster mother?

On Diaz's casting, we could argue that Bad Teacher was one big audition for the role. In fact, any character who drinks too much and treats children carelessly might be compared to Miss Hannigan, a character made even more famous and iconic due to Carol Burnett's brilliant portrayal of her in the 1982 feature adaptation of the musical. At the very least, with Bad Teacher in mind, Diaz seems like a pretty great choice to play the mean woman put in charge of a bunch of kids, as it's not especially difficult to picture her humorously yelling at kids, stumbling around drunk and falling all over the wealthy Benjamin Stacks when she eventually learns of his developing affection toward Annie.

We're left to wonder who might swoop in to play the roles of con-artists Rooster and Lily St. Regis? Those are two more iconic roles from the '82 film, excellently portrayed by Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters.